Do you hear Roy Orbison singing “It’s Over”? Two streaks ended on Sunday at Yokohama Stadium, Yakult’s Central League record-tying, 16-game losing streak, and the NPB record for consecutive chances at first base without an error. A first-inning error by four-time Golden Glove-winner Jose Lopez ended that latter record, with his first regular-season error since the seventh inning of a 4-2 loss to the Chunichi Dragons on Aug. 31, 2017 at Nagoya Dome.
The new mark to beat is 1,632 consecutive chances. Good luck with that one. Last year, Lopez became the only CL first baseman to qualify for the fielding-percentage title with a perfect 1.000.
Central League
Swallows 5, BayStars 2
At Yokohama Stadium, Yakult’s Juri Hara (3-5) won for the first time since April 16 as he allowed a run on five hits and a walk over 6-2/3 inning. He had lost five of his last six starts. Hara came in 1-6 with a 5.43 ERA in his career against the BayStars.
Haruhiro Hamaguchi (2-3) allowed three unearned runs after Lopez’s two-out error in the first loaded the bases, and Keiji Obiki cleared them. The lefty, who threw a two-hit shutout against Yakult on May 19, gave up three hits but walked none in his lone inning. In his previous start, he gave up five runs in 1-2/3 innings before getting yanked.
Wladimir Balentien hit his 13th home run for the Swallows, while Lopez hit his 11th. Swallows middle reliever Yugo Umeno, earned his fourth save since Taichi Ishiyama went down due to fitness issues in early May. Ishiyama returned to action on Sunday, and surrendered a run on two hits in an inning of relief.
Giants 3, Dragons 1
At Tokyo Dome, Hayato Sakamoto drove in all three of Yomiuri’s runs with a game-tying solo home run, and a two-run, fifth-inning, tie-breaking shot, that gives him 19 on the season.
Shun Yamaguchi (5-2) improved to 12-9 in his career against Chunichi, although he suffered his first loss to the Dragons in four years on May 19. The right-hander struck out eight and walked two as he gave up four hits and one unearned run over seven innings.
Lefty Kota Nakagawa struck out two in the ninth as he earned his fourth save for the Giants.
Enny Romero (3-4) allowed three runs on six hits and three walks over six innings to take the loss for the Dragons. He struck out seven.
Tigers 7, Carp 5
At Mazda Stadium, Hanshin terrorized Makoto Aduwa (2-2) for seven runs on 10 hits and three walks over two innings, while Hiroshima’s sixth-inning counterattack against Onelki Garcia (2-2) fell two runs short.
Xavier Batista continues to rake for the CL leaders, going 3-for-5 with a triple in his fourth-straight multi-hit game.
Pacific League
Eagles 4, Hawks 1
At Yafuoku Dome, Manabu Mima (4-3) allowed a run three hits. He struck out six without a walk and didn’t get to three balls on a batter until two outs in the fifth in Rakuten’s second-straight win over SoftBank.
Eigoro Mogi homered to lead off against Robert Suarez (0-2) in the Hawks’ second bullpen game in four days. Suarez allowed three runs on five hits and three walks over 3-1/3 innings.
Mima threw eight shutout innings against the Hawks without a decision the last time he faced them on April 29. He lost his no-hit bid when Hawks catcher Takuya Kai homered with one out in the sixth, and left after the hosts loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh.
With the tying runs in scoring position, lefty Yuhei Takanashi got a line out, and right-hander Koji Aoyama an inning-ending double play. Alan Busenitz recorded his fifth hold for a scoreless eighth, and closer Yuki Matsui shut the Hawks down in the ninth for his NPB-best 16th save.
Hawks rookie Arata Shino gave the home team some good news when the right-handed reliever struck out six of the seven batters he faced.
Fighters 8, Buffaloes 5
At Kyocera Dome, Taishi Ota hit a game-tying, two-run bomb, and Sho Nakata broke the tie in the fourth inning with a grand slam as Nippon Ham won its sixth straight, moving past SoftBank into second place, 1-1/2 games back of the Eagles.
Stefen Romero gave the Buffaloes a first-inning lead with an RBI single and hit his third home run in the ninth as Orix fell short after starter Kohei “K” Suzuki allowed six runs, two earned over 3-2/3 innings to take the loss.
Wang Po-jung, who batted over .400 in 2016 and 2017 for CPBL’s Lamigo Monkeys before he was posted last year and signed with the Fighters, had his first five-hit game. He went 5-for-5 with a double to raise his average to .303.
Marines 8, Lions 1
At Zozo Marine Stadium, Lotte won a home run derby with Seibu, whose only run came on Hotaka Yamakawa‘s NPB-best 23rd home run off starter Ayumu Ishikawa, who gave up seven hits and a walk, while striking out five.
Ishikawa improved to 3-2 as he won two straight starts against PL opponents since April 2018.
Lotte’s homers came from Takashi Ogino, reserve catcher Naoya Emura, the first of his career and a grand slam, and Seiya Inoue.
In other news
- SoftBank deactivated utility infielder Keizo Kawashima due to right-shoulder discomfort on Sunday. Kawashima, who got his first career stint in the outfield in April when the Hawks were decimated by injuries, has a .458 on-base percentage in 27 games. “He’s been indispensable to us,” manager Kimiyasu Kudo said.
- Fighters manager Hideki Kuriyama has declared that Roki Sasaki, a flame-throwing high school senior who has repeatedly touched 100 miles per hour, will be the club’s first-round pick in October in NPB’s amateur draft. Each team nominates its first pick in secret, and when multiple teams select the same player, his signing rights are decided by a lottery.
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